TURKEY LONG STEEL EXPORTS: Section 232 sends Turkish prices down

The Turkish long steel export market has remained sluggish because of the uncertainty created by the Section 232 tariffs imposed by the United States, and prices have started to fall, sources said on Thursday March 22.

Turkish steel producers have reduced their rebar export offers to $595-605 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, while demand for such material was significantly low.

Sources believed that the Section 232 announcement is affecting steel markets all over the world but the tariffs cannot be sustainable, Metal Bulletin was told. The US will impose 25% import tariffs on all steel imports starting from tomorrow. Only material from Canada, Mexico and Australia will be exempt.

“The [Section 232] decision affects steel producers all over the world. The US is trying to defend its domestic market, but such market models do not last for long,” a CIS source said. The ultimate effects would be seen in a few months, he added.

“The Section 232 uncertainty stopped all export long steel sales. [And] there are talks about a possible exemption for Brazil that will hurt the Turkish market further,” a Turkish trading source said.

“We are hearing signals from Asia which are also sending prices downward,” he added.

With the resulting weak demand, Turkish export rebar and wire rod prices have gone down over the past week.

Metal Bulletin’s weekly price assessment for rebar exports out of Turkey was $585-595 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis on March 22, down from last week’s $600-610 per tonne.

The weekly price assessment for wire rod exports out of the country on March 22 was $610-615 per tonne fob, down from the $615-625 per tonne of last week.
 

What to read next
The publication of the following assessment was delayed: MB-AL-0052 Aluminum 6063 extrusion billet premium, delivered Midwest US, US cents/lb This price is a part of the Fastmarkets base metals package. For more information or to provide feedback on the delayed publication of this price or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a […]
The US green steel market faced minimal activity in the assessment period to Wednesday April 16, with sources reporting an unwillingness among buyers to pay a premium for low carbon steel.
Fastmarkets proposes to change the name and base specifications of its index for iron ore 62% Fe fines cfr Qingdao to more closely align with the specifications of prevailing mid-grade fines in the CFR China market. Following an initial consultation with the market, and a review of the typical data sets that have been collected […]
How much Canadian aluminium is being diverted from the US to Europe, when will it arrive and what impact will it have on premiums? The market appears to be split, but that could all change at the end of June, sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Thursday April 17.
Manganese ore inventories at the main Chinese ports of Tianjin and Qinzhou were originally published at 357 million-370 million tonnes. This has been corrected to 3.57 million-3.70 million tonnes. Chrome ore inventories at the main ports of Tianjin, Qinzhou, Lianyungang and Shanghai were originally published at 2.95 million tonnes. This has been corrected to 2.69 […]
Full details of the prices covered by this consultation can be found here. No feedback was received during the consultation period and therefore no changes will be made to the methodologies at this stage. This consultation sought to ensure that our methodologies continue to reflect the physical market under indexation, in compliance with the International Organization […]